ABSTRACT

Tourism is one of the key economic sectors of many countries in the world, including Vietnam. Not being a new concept, sustainable tourism (ST) has really experienced a revival since the Covid pandemic because many tourist destinations take advantage of this model to recover and develop. Although many studies have attempted to explain the concept as well as stakeholders' concerns for this concept, very little research has been conducted to assess tourism demand for ST after the health crisis. The purpose of this research is to explore the level of tourist attachment to ST practices in the post-Covid context. The study sought to answer questions regarding what motivates tourists to practice sustainable tourism, as well as what obstacles that may prevent them from experiencing this type of tourism. The research also raised questions about the adaptation of these motivations in a natural environment, namely the delta. Mekong Delta (MDR) (Vietnam) was selected as a case study. To collect data for this study, two different methods were applied: (1) A qualitative survey was conducted with 12 representatives of actors in the tourism industry of the MDR for in-depth interviews; (2) A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 200 tourists in different destinations in this region. The findings indicate that there was a real desire to implement ST after the pandemic, although the concept of ST was still quite vague. The main motivations of tourists were linked to the three environmental, economic and social dimensions of different order of importance. There were 03 princible obstacles of ST practices, also with different order of importance, including “lack of visibility on unique and attractive offers of sustainable tourism”, “the image of ST being more expensive than traditional tourism” and “lack of awareness of the concept of ST”. The MDR had a lot of potential for ST development, but at the same time, limitations were also found. Finally, profiles of some typologies of tourists are built and implications of destination management are proposed to contribute to improving destination quality towards recovery and more ST development after the pandemic.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, destination management, post-pandemic recovery, tourist, Mekong Delta Region, Vietnam